Man who made threats recently got out of prison

Wednesday

Aug 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2007 at 3:04 PM

MILFORD - Police yesterday confirmed that a man who left threats on a Town Hall answering machine over the weekend is a Mississippi man convicted here on gun charges in 2006 and recently released from prison.

Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Police yesterday confirmed that a man who left threats on a Town Hall answering machine over the weekend is a Mississippi man convicted here on gun charges in 2006 and recently released from prison.
Police said Justin R. Cullinson left a rambling message on the town clerk's voice mail that was peppered with profanities and threatened police. It featured his angry vow, spoken with a Southern drawl: ``You're not going to hurt my family and get away with it.''
Cullinson left another threat this weekend with the Gun Owners' Action League, a lobbying group, Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin said. He also left similar messages in July for a Milford detective and a witness from his trial.
``We know it's him,'' the chief said yesterday. ``It's an obvious concern when you have someone you've charged with unlawful carrying of an assault weapon and he had a magazine with him with 10 rounds in it. He's intoxicated, his conduct was disorderly ... Now he's calling from Mississippi and Tennessee ... You reach a point where you say OK, he's obviously not moving on.''
Milford Detective Rick Belanger and Officer Alan Bacchiocchi are investigating, and have been in touch with the Mississippi parole officers who were assigned Cullinson's case, O'Loughlin said.
No charges or arrest warrants had been brought against Cullinson as of yesterday, he said.
Cullinson called the Northborough-based Gun Owners' Action League on Saturday, O'Loughlin said, and narrated his story via voice mail.
The group defends the constitutional right to bear arms ``for lawful purposes,'' according to its Web site.
``It didn't have anything to do with us,'' said GOAL Executive Director Jim Wallace. He said it was the first message of that sort he's heard in his seven years at the league's helm.
``It was more about the Milford Police Department and the fact that he considers himself to have been railroaded,'' Wallace said. ``He was going to try to find a way to get back at the Milford Police.''
Wallace said he was ``shocked'' Cullinson gave his name and phone number in the long-winded message, left on an answering machine which cut Cullinson off mid-thought.
``Perhaps he thought he could garner some support from us. You're not going to get any support from us if you threaten law enforcement,'' Wallace said. ``We obviously notified the authorities as soon as we listened to the message.''
In February 2006, police in Milford arrested Cullinson, then 31, and of Olive Branch, Miss., for allegedly making death threats at Meade Street's Marchegiano Club and then fleeing when cops showed up.
Officers discovered an illegal silver and black .223 rifle with a folding knife and ammunition in his Mitsubishi LSX, according to police at the time.
Cullinson was charged with possession of a large capacity firearm without a license; possession of ammunition without a firearms ID card; assault with a dangerous weapon; threatening to commit the crime of murder; and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.
He was sentenced to two years in the Worcester House of Correction and served 14 months, said O'Loughlin. He was unsure of Cullinson's exact release date, but said it was recent.
Cullinson's message for the town clerk's office was picked up by a staffer Monday morning.
He made references to his prison term and described how Milford Police have destroyed the life of a ``good Southern boy'' who served with the Army on war frontlines and helped out after Hurricane Katrina.
``You're not going to hurt my family and get away with it,'' Cullinson said. ``Justice is justice and right is right. You people are wrong,'' he said, touting the possibility of ``good ole country boys'' coming up to ``do our own Southern justice ... You f****d up ... You got some damn good lessons to learn.''
Raising his voice several octaves from a relatively calm tone, he vowed, ``I'll get your home addresses,'' before shouting through the phone, ``You f****d with my family!''
He claimed to be taking the matter of police seizing his vehicle to the federal courts.
During last February's incident, Cullinson had left the Marchegiano Club and was tracked down on Cedar Street when a resident reported a man wearing a black overcoat knocking on her front door, according to police at the time. He was drunk and told police he was cold and seeking shelter, police had said.
A bar patron told police Cullinson had showed off his gun earlier in the night and made threats to kill anyone who ``disrespected him.'' Cullinson allegedly taunted the officer who responded to Cedar Street, asking if he was going to shoot him.
Police had said Cullinson told them he had the gun because he was heading to Canada to go elk hunting.
``It's a weapon that's designed as a military weapon,'' O'Loughlin said yesterday. ``You're not hunting ... It's an assault weapon.''
Cullinson has faced alcohol, assault and firearm charges in several states, said the chief, who has not decided what new charges can or may be made.
``His involvement with alcohol, his involvement with weapons - ... What's the guy's propensity (to act)? ... It's pretty high,'' O'Loughlin said.
Cullinson claimed he had never heard of the requirements for a firearms identification card.
``In Massachusetts the gun laws are stricter than what you see where he comes from,'' O'Loughlin said. ``(Down South,) show your driver's license and you're golden.''
Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-634-7521 or dameden@cnc.com.

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